EloElo has raised $80 million in Series C funding from Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, according to TechCrunch. The round brings the company's total fundraising to $130 million at a reported valuation of $500 million.
The company's flagship microdrama app, Story TV, has over 33 million active users, according to analysts cited in the report. EloElo says it has more than 40 million monthly users across its apps. Founder Saurabh Pandey told TechCrunch that Story TV users log an average of 95 minutes on the app per day across multiple sessions.
The report cites analyst estimates that India's microdrama industry could cross $3 billion to $4 billion in annual revenue by 2030. It also cites a Redseer report indicating that 15 to 17 million users pay for microdramas monthly, while an Ormax Media survey found that 72% of people have never paid for the format.
EloElo plans to put much of the new capital into original titles and to expand its AI and machine learning research team, which currently has a total of 240 employees. The company is also developing Dolphin, an AI tool for video creation that it plans to make widely available, and envisions it being used for marketing and ads.
Pandey told TechCrunch that he sees AI as a tool that supports human creative directors, not a replacement for them.
MIT Investment Co., Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures, and Griffin Gaming Partners also invested in the round.